The home of the Miami Dolphins has a new name — Sun Life Stadium — just in time for the Super Bowl on Feb. 7.
That gives it as many names as Elizabeth Taylor has had husbands: seven.
When the stadium opened in 1987, it was named Joe Robbie Stadium, after the Dolphins’ owner at the time. It became Pro Player Park, then shifted ever so slightly to Pro Player Stadium. That name stuck to the building even after it was rendered meaningless for several years by the sports apparel company’s liquidation.
In 2005, it was renamed Dolphins Stadium, which shrank a smidgen to Dolphin Stadium from 2006 until last May, when it turned into Land Shark Stadium. Two weeks ago, it reverted back to Dolphin Stadium.
Will Sun Life, a financial services company, finally bring nomenclatural stability to the stadium?
“We sure hope it does,” said Mike Dee, the Dolphins’ chief executive.
A name that evokes sunlight in South Florida, or to be precise, Miami Gardens, is a plus.
But Sun Life has guaranteed only five years (with options for five more), a short period for a naming-rights deal, at an average annual net fee of US$4 million, said a person briefed on the deal but not authorized to discuss it publicly. The company will also make a yearly contribution to the Dolphins’ foundation.
Sun Life’s goal is to raise national awareness of its name through its commitment to the Miami market as the Dolphins’ official insurance and wealth management partner. The stadium is far from Sun Life’s US headquarters in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Sun Life is following the lead of another Massachusetts company, Staples, which went far afield to be the first and only name on Staples Center in Los Angeles.
“We were looking for something we could own,” said Priscilla Brown, the senior vice president for Sun Life’s US marketing. “We didn’t want to be an also-ran on a scoreboard with other sponsors.”
Finding a company to pay for naming rights — Land Shark paid nothing — is the latest deal by the Dolphins’ new owner, Stephen Ross. He has brought in as investors big names like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Fergie, and Venus and Serena Williams.
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